Proper Public Notice is Essential – Two examples that didn’t meet the test
Along with open meetings and freedom of information laws, public notice is an essential element of the three-legged stool of government transparency. The Attorney General of Kentucky and the State Auditor call into question the validity of tax and bond votes when appropriate public notice was not given.
KY attorney general says Fayette school board didn’t give public notice before tax vote
AG Coleman: Fayette County (KY) Schools Tax Hike is Unlawful
Office of the Attorney General
(June 4, 2025) – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today the Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS) Board unlawfully attempted to raise taxes on Kentucky families. General Coleman released a formal Attorney General’s opinion that found the FCPS Board failed to meet the state statutory requirements to provide public notice before levying an occupational tax increase at its May 27, 2025 meeting.
June 2025 Monthly Newsletter
Breaking News
Oklahoma legislature increases state-set rate for legal notices, enacts reforms.
Oklahoma legislators voted to override the governor’s veto of House Bill 2167 – an OPA-sponsored legal notice bill – in the final hours of the 2025 legislative session. The legislation increased the state-set legal notice rates for the first time since 2005 and included other reforms for readability and accessibility of legal notices.
HB 2167 passed the House on March 25 by an 83-6 vote. On April 28, the bill passed the Senate 36-6. On May 5, the governor vetoed the legislation, writing a confusing and surprising veto message, even though the bill reached his desk with veto-proof vote majorities in both the House and Senate.
OP-ED: Legal Notices under attack – again (HB 1080)
Whitesboro News-Record (TX) April 03, 2025, by Austin Lewter
To anyone who says, “Newspapers are dead,” I say, “Sit at my desk the Monday after the post office sends a bundle of newspapers to Fort Worth by mistake.”
I say, “Answer my phone when someone has a neighbor whose dog ate their paper.”
I say, “Do my job when someone forgot to renew their subscription on time and, all of a sudden, realized they didn’t get their paper that week.”
The latter two incidents are far more common than the former, but they all occur from time to time. When they do, I field calls from frustrated readers looking for their paper.
May 2025 Monthly Newsletter
Thank you to Richard Karpel for his dedication to protecting public notices.
Best Wishes on his retirement.
Jim Tarrant and Lisa McGraw look forward to working collaboratively with you to
- expand accessibility to public notices for the public while
- maintain the role of trusted local newspapers, as a disinterested, third-party or
- evolve to the digital descendant of a printed newspaper
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association supports bill to update Public Notice